


Don't be a goddamn coward

by Codango



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: F/M, Falling In Love, Flowers, Friendship/Love, Gift Giving, Jealousy, Love Triangles, Oblivious, Rivalry, Teasing, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-22
Updated: 2015-04-22
Packaged: 2018-03-25 05:25:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3798397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Codango/pseuds/Codango
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He waited until after dinner. Yona was laughing at some childish joke of Zeno’s when Jae-Ha handed her a perfect bouquet of wood lilies. He’d wrapped the stems in a few thick leaves to hold in moisture. </p><p>“For you.” Jae-Ha got down on one knee at Yona’s side. “My princess, my darling, my love.” He wondered if the hand at his heart was too much, but a sidelong glance at Hak confirmed it had been the right move.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't be a goddamn coward

_So the Raiju can’t sense everything?_

But Jae-Ha wasn’t foolish enough to believe that was the same thing as being able to take the young man by surprise. _I bet I wouldn’t even get to the ground before he’d have that devil’s blade at my neck._ Jae-Ha contented himself with balancing on his haunches on a tree branch far above the princess’ ill-humored bodyguard. He watched, curious, as Hak scowled at a clump of wood lilies.

The serious young man tightened his jaw and reached toward one of the yellow flowers. Gingerly gripped a stem. Pulled. He stared at the single blossom, swallowed hard.

Jae-Ha propped his chin in his hand and raised an eyebrow. _How do I forget how young this guy is?_

In quick succession, Hak had two, three, four lilies in hand. If Jae-Ha’s opinion mattered, which he doubted, the boy looked like he’d never held flowers before. Or maybe he was just nervous. Fists too strong for their own good squeezed delicate stems into juicy green pulp.

Hak stood slowly, almost clumsily. He held up the wilting bouquet…

“Dammit all to hell.”

Jae-Ha’s eyes went wide as Hak tossed the flowers into the woods with a disgusted curse.

“Stupid.” Hak turned on his heel. Throwing his blade over his shoulder, he jammed his free hand in his robe and strode off toward camp. “Stupid, dumb idea, where would she even _put_ them, we’re in the middle of the goddamn _mountains_ , you sad, dumb fuck, not like she’d even know what — _anyway_ probably think they’re some stupid herb for Yoon…”

Jae-Ha listened with interest until the muttered curses became part of the mountain breeze. He waited a few moments more, just to be safe, then leapt gracefully to the ground.

There were quite a few more lilies.

* * *

 

He waited until after dinner.

Yona was laughing at some childish joke of Zeno’s when Jae-Ha handed her a perfect bouquet of wood lilies. He’d wrapped the stems in a few thick leaves to hold in moisture.

“For you.” Jae-Ha got down on one knee at Yona’s side. “My princess, my darling, my love.” He wondered if the hand at his heart was too much, but a sidelong glance at Hak confirmed it had been the right move.

“Jae-Ha!” Yona gave a delighted laugh. “I haven’t gotten a bouquet since…” Her smile faltered, then came back softer. She looked up at him, and Jae-Ha felt his breath catch in his throat. She looked thousands of years old and so very, very young all at once. “Well. It’s been a long time.”

 _You. Fucking. Idiot._ It was so easy to forget what she’d been through. What her previous life had been. He called her a princess, yes, but he’d never seen her… like that. Receiving enormous flower arrangements for her birthday, for a festival, for an anniversary of the kingdom, for simply being a beautiful, young royal.

Yona twirled the simple bouquet a couple times. “It’s such a shame we’ll be moving on tomorrow. Maybe I could —?”

“Please.” Jae-Ha cleared his throat. “These are common flowers in this area. You’ll have the privilege to see your bouquet many times over as we travel.”

“What a pretty way to look at it.” Yona flashed him the easy smile that he’d seen every day for months now. He felt his chest tighten. “I’ll sleep with these tonight and be content with that.”

Jae-Ha was grateful that Kija could be trusted to splutter at such a statement. It gave his mind something to latch onto other than the fact that Yona would be sleeping with a gift from him.

While the white dragon protested loudly that Jae-Ha was overstepping his bounds _by a considerable amount_ , Jae-Ha got to his feet and sauntered over to a stony-faced Hak.

The bodyguard didn’t look up at him, but Jae-Ha could only guess at how many pounds of pressure his jaw was exerting at the moment. He clapped the young man on the shoulder, leaned down to whisper in a bright red ear. “That’s how you do it, my boy. Don’t be a goddamn coward next time, will you?”

Hak breathed in sharply through his nose, but Jae-Ha wasn’t concerned. Too much.

The green dragon wandered off into the darkening woods and leapt to a branch three times his height off the ground. He leaned his head back against the trunk and breathed out slowly. Willing his heart to calm down.

_God damn this dragon blood._

**Author's Note:**

> [@codango](http://codango.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr
> 
> [Marcella Christie](http://marcellachristie.com/) for my alter ego


End file.
